


The Forgotten Mirror

by Red_Lenses



Series: The Second War For Earth [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dreams, Gem Shards, Gen, Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23527300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Lenses/pseuds/Red_Lenses
Summary: Steven finds a mysterious Gem artifact during a mission.
Series: The Second War For Earth [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689916
Kudos: 14





	The Forgotten Mirror

The gentle sound of birdsong drifted through the treetops, carried on the light breeze that stirred the leaves and sent waves rippling through the grass. The sun was high in the sky and the afternoon seemed perfectly peaceful. The only signs of activity were the insects flitting through the grass and climbing across branches, busily going about their day without regard to anything else.

The peace was disturbed by a sudden beam of light cutting through the sky. Dead leaves were sent scattering in every direction as the warp pad buried beneath them activated, clearing space for a small group to materialize. Most of its members appeared directly upon the crystalline structure as they had intended to do - aside from one, who found himself six feet in the air and flailing as gravity caught up with him.

“Whoa- oof!” Steven hit the warp pad facedown and suddenly regretted how much he had been playing around in the zero-gravity space of the warp stream.

Bismuth was kneeling at his side immediately. “You all right there?”

His cheek was smarting as he lifted himself up and gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m okay.”

Bismuth helped him to his feet and dusted him off. “Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”

“I’m still not sure about this,” Pearl commented uneasily as she stepped off the warp pad. “Isn’t it a little too soon to bring Steven on a mission like this? Gem structures are one thing, when we know there won’t be any monsters to fight, but this…?”

A hand on her shoulder silenced her. “Bismuth has got this,” Garnet stated calmly.

“Steven’s got this!” Steven added as he bounded a few steps into the grass, ready for action. There was no threat in immediate view and he had no idea of what to expect, but there was no way he could disappoint the Crystal Gems again.

Pearl made a quiet noise of unhappiness, but Garnet ignored it as she pointed off into the trees. “Pearl and Amethyst, you go that way. Don’t do anything reckless.”

“Psh. Reckless?” Amethyst scoffed. “I’m never reckless. C’mon, P.” She set off into the trees immediately. With one last regretful glance back at the rest of the group, Pearl followed.

Steven was visibly brimming with excitement as Garnet crouched down to be closer to his level. “Steven, remember. You’re with Bismuth. And that means you have to do everything she says so she can keep you safe. I’m trusting the two of you together on this mission.”

Steven put on a serious expression and saluted. “Aye, aye, Captain Garnet!”

If she had not already been almost certain that everything would be fine, that would not have given her much confidence. She looked up at Bismuth, who rested a protective hand on Steven’s shoulder. “You can count on me.”

“I know.”

As Garnet stood and began to walk away, Bismuth moved her grip to Steven’s hand. “Let’s find these gem shards.”

The grass grew thickly and reached as high as Steven’s knees, forcing him to take larger steps to avoid getting his feet tangled in it. The thought of what might be waiting for them filled him with excitement. He might even get to use his shield for something useful again. Surely everyone would be proud of him if he was the one to protect Bismuth today.

“Thanks for talking them into letting me come today,” he told Bismuth again as they walked.

She glanced down at him with a smile. “You’re never going to get used to these missions if we’re always leaving you behind. Hmm… This grass is a little tall for you, isn’t it? Here you go.”

At once he found his feet leaving the ground as she swung him up and settled him on her shoulders. “Comfortable up there?”

“Yes.” He wriggled slightly to get into a better position and grinned as he surveyed their surroundings. It was far easier to look around from up here. Bismuth’s hands gripped his legs loosely as she continued on, studying the grass for any signs of movement.

“Bismuth?” Steven spoke up again a few minutes later. “I’ve been wondering something. Why don’t you have a room in the Temple like Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl?”

“A room in the Temple? Now why would I ever need that when I’ve got my forge? That’s more than enough for me.”

“But you’d be closer and get to go on more missions. And spend more time with me!”

Bismuth chuckled to herself. “You make it sound so much more appealing than Pink ever did. My forge is all the space I’d ever need. It goes deeper than you’d think. And any time I’m needed, there’s a warp pad right nearby. Besides, I spend plenty of time over at the house with you. Didn’t we just have a movie marathon two days ago?”

“You hang out with me more than Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. It feels like they’ve almost always got something more important to do.”

Bismuth could practically feel herself deflating slightly at his words. “Steven, you know we all like spending time with you.”

“I know. But if I was stronger and could come on missions all the time, maybe I could help with more important stuff. Then they wouldn’t be so busy and would have more time for me.”

A short silence fell between them as Bismuth chewed her lip, wondering if there was anything she could do or say to reassure him. But before she could think of the right words he suddenly pointed past her head. “Look! Is that one of the monsters?”

Quickly she followed his finger and her eyes fell upon a tangle of grass and weeds partially hidden among the greenery. It took her a moment to realize its movements were not due to the breeze like the grass around it; the object was unmistakably rolling slowly away in a subtle attempt to escape them.

“Hold on tight,” Bismuth warned. Steven’s hands and knees tightened as she shapeshifted her hand into a blade and charged straight at the monster. It wasted no time; as soon as it realized its cover was blown it rocketed away with more speed than she had expected, leaving an obvious trail of flattened grass in its wake.

Clinging to Bismuth’s head was exhilarating as she raced after the monster. It seemed quite harmless to Steven; after all, what could a pile of grass really do to fight? It certainly didn’t seem worthy of Pearl’s worry. Even as Bismuth slowly gained on it, all it could do was flee. For a moment he wondered if it was even right to fight it.

Suddenly the monster swung around and shot the opposite way, straight between Bismuth’s legs. She nearly tripped as she stumbled to a stop and spun around to go after it again. “This is a flighty one!”

“Maybe we can set a trap for it,” Steven suggested, his eyes upon the fleeing bundle of vegetation as Bismuth pounded after it again.

“What kind of trap?”

“If you leave me here and make it turn around again, it’ll come right at me. I’ll use my shield to stop it. If anything goes wrong I can put myself in a bubble while you catch it!”

She contemplated that for a moment. It was simple, but it certainly seemed like it could work. “Pearl isn’t gonna like it, but I’ve seen how much stronger you’ve grown. All right. Wait right here and get ready.” She slowed down just long enough to set Steven down at the foot of a low hill before taking off at full speed again.

As he watched her retreating back chase the escaping monster, Steven clenched both fists bravely and planted his feet apart in a fighting stance. His right foot landed on something hard and a cracking sound split the air. Distracted, he glanced down and saw a shimmer of something pink beneath the dirt and plant life.

“Huh…? What’s that?” He crouched down and began to clear away the earth. The object seemed to be firmly embedded in the ground, but he saw its colours shift as he moved. As he scooped away handfuls of earth he began to uncover a silver frame around it. It was a hand mirror, he realized as he spotted his own reflection in the dirty and cracked glass. Someone had left a hand mirror lying here for so long that it had almost been completely buried underground. If he had not stepped on and broken it, he never would have noticed it.

The sound of running footsteps and a distant yell drew his attention away. “ _Steven!_ ”

He looked up again just in time to summon his shield. The monster slammed straight into it, sending him skidding backward from the force of the impact. He gripped the edge of the shield with his free hand, grunting with effort as he pushed back against the monster. A glance beyond it told him Bismuth had nearly caught up, but she was hesitating to attack while he was in the way.

He tilted his shield slightly so that the edge was beneath the creature. Before it could go rolling straight over him and escape, he braced himself and rammed the shield upward as hard as he could. The creature was sent flying into the air, spinning helplessly, and Bismuth leaped to meet it. In an instant her blade had sliced it clean in half.

A shower of grass and leaves rained down upon Steven as Bismuth landed a short distance away. Something clinked off his shield and rolled into his lap; he looked down to see the gem shard lying atop his knees, looking completely harmless. At once he grabbed it before it could inhabit any other object and held it in the air victoriously. “I’ve got the shard!”

“Nice work, Steven.” Bismuth knelt by his side again and he placed the shard in her hand. She bubbled it at once and sent it off to the Temple. “But what were you doing over here? That thing nearly got you.”

“I found something buried in the ground. Look!” Steven’s shield vanished as he scrambled to his feet and returned to the mirror, which was now mostly exposed. Bismuth came over to watch as he dug away the dirt around the sides and wedged his fingers underneath to pull it out. It resisted at first before coming free so abruptly he stumbled back.

“That’s a Gem artifact,” Bismuth stated warily as Steven examined it.

“It is?” His eyes traced over the lines etched upon the mirror’s surface. It was difficult to tell beneath the cracks, but now that he was paying attention he noticed that they looked almost like a two-dimensional representation of the facets of a gem. He turned it over and caught his breath; embedded in the back was a vibrant blue teardrop-shaped gem, slightly dirty but undamaged from its time spent underground.

“Don’t touch that,” Bismuth said sharply as he reached for it. Before he could do anything else she had taken the mirror from his hands. “We need to show this to the others.”

“Is that a gem in there? A whole one?” Steven enquired as he trotted alongside Bismuth, his eyes still on the mirror in her hand.

“It sure looks like it.” Bismuth eyed the mirror with far more caution. It must have fallen from the ruins that had been constructed far above them, which she recalled had at one point been a gathering place for Homeworld Gems. But why it had been left there and how long it had been lying around unnoticed were the important questions.

“Why hasn’t she reformed?” Steven asked. “I know Pearl took two whole weeks to come back when she got poofed, but this mirror must have been there for years. She didn’t even try to form when I pulled it out of the ground. Do you think something’s wrong? Maybe there’s a crack we can’t see, or… Is the mirror keeping her from reforming?”

“Steven.” Bismuth’s hand landed on his shoulder again. As he turned to face her she sank to one knee, meeting his gaze with a serious look in her eyes. “I don’t know why this mirror is here on Earth. But what I do know is that it’s dangerous. I don’t want you touching it again. Do you understand?”

“But if she’s trapped-!”

“ _Do you understand, Steven?_ ”

He was silent for a moment before responding with a reluctant nod. A flicker of relief crossed Bismuth’s expression before she straightened up. “Good. Garnet will know what to do about this.”

The remainder of the walk was spent in silence. Steven found himself constantly casting glances at the mirror, occasionally catching glimpses of his own uneasy expression in the cracked glass; Bismuth had turned it to face him so that he could no longer see the gem. Something about this situation felt very wrong. Surely there was no way Garnet would agree to keep an unknown stranger imprisoned like this when she could potentially be another friend instead.

The other three were already waiting back at the warp pad and conversing in low voices when Bismuth and Steven crested the last hill. Amethyst was the first to spot them. “Heeey, there you are! We were about to leave without you!”

“No, we weren’t,” Pearl huffed in response as she and Garnet broke off their conversation.

“Why is your hair full of leaves?” Steven questioned.

Pearl plucked a leaf out of her hair in distaste but Amethyst simply shrugged carelessly, unbothered by the foliage tangled in her own mane. “These things happen, little man. You find anything?”

“We sure did! There was a gem shard controlling a big bundle of grass, but Bismuth and I took it out together! And then I found a-“

“Gem artifact.” Garnet’s voice cut him off abruptly and everyone spun toward her. Bismuth had presented her with the mirror and she had taken it immediately, flipping it over to see the back. Her visor made her expression difficult to read but her lips were slightly parted in shock.

“A Gem artifact?” Pearl hurried to Garnet’s side to examine the mirror for herself. “Could Homeworld Gems have been here recently? But why? You don’t think…?” The two exchanged a glance. For a moment Steven thought he caught a glimpse of guilt in Pearl’s expression, though it was quickly covered up.

He spoke up, “It was buried in the ground. It looked like it’d been there for years.”

Pearl’s shoulders relaxed slightly as Garnet examined the mirror again. “Good job finding this, Steven. We’ll take care of it.”

Steven shot another look at Bismuth, who was avoiding his gaze. The feeling of wrongness was only increasing as Garnet gathered everyone onto the warp pad without another word about the mirror. Before long they were all on their way back to the Temple.

* * *

Steven’s rest that night was uneasy. When he finally drifted to sleep to the sound of the Gems whispering in the kitchen, at first he was not even aware he was dreaming. He found himself standing barefoot on the beach, staring out over the ocean and letting its familiar sounds fill his ears. But the harder he listened, the more he thought he could make out an unfamiliar voice hidden within the sound of the waves.

“Hello?” he called out. “Is someone there?”

The waves lapped at his toes. He had stepped closer without even noticing and now found himself wading into the water, though his feet still felt perfectly dry. The crashing of the waves intensified and the voice grew slightly clearer.

“Are you… in the ocean?”

The only response was the same faint whisper. With a frown of determination, Steven walked forward. The water rose up to his chest but he found himself still moving as easily as on land. But the more he immersed himself, the more clearly he could hear.

“I’m coming to find you!” he called out before plunging his head completely underwater.

The sand fell away beneath his feet and he found himself floating in place, breathing the water as easily as air. There was nothing to do other than to swim deeper into this strange dry ocean. Slowly the whispering grew louder as it surrounded him, seemingly coming from every direction at once. The stronger it grew, the more he felt that he was on the brink of understanding what it was saying.

Somewhere ahead of him something was giving off a faint glow. He kicked harder, propelling himself ever closer, and the light condensed into the shape of a teardrop floating in the water. He found himself reaching out for it as the light grew ever brighter. And the moment his fingers touched it, the whispering suddenly snapped into focus.

_‘Please help me. Let me out. Please help me.’_

Steven snapped awake with the whispered cry for help still ringing in his ears. It took him a moment to realize that the house was silent. When he quietly climbed out of bed he saw that the kitchen was empty, though a slight movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention to the window. The Gems had moved their discussion outside so as not to disturb him and were standing with their backs to the house as they conversed.

A grunting snore prompted him to peek down at the couch. There was Amethyst sprawled out on her back, fast asleep. And - his stomach gave a jolt - there was the mirror, lying unattended on the table. Clearly the others had left her to guard it.

He had to get that mirror.

With the utmost care Steven crept down the stairs, his eyes on the door and his ears focused on the sound of Amethyst’s breathing. His heart was pounding hard in his chest at the thought of getting caught. All he had to do was grab the mirror. Once it was in his hands he would be safe. No one would suspect anything if they saw him headed for the bathroom.

There was a movement outside and he froze, but the door didn’t open. The Gems were descending the stairs to the beach. Steven waited until they were out of view before he let out his breath slowly and stepped off the final step to the floor.

Amethyst was facing away from the mirror as Steven edged his way closer to the table. He had just reached out toward it when suddenly she turned her head toward him. He froze again, almost expecting the sound of his racing heartbeat to give him away. For several seconds there was only silence before Amethyst let out another soft snore and he dared to breathe again.

It seemed like it took forever for his hand to close the distance to the mirror. Slowly his fingers wrapped around its handle and he lifted it off the table, careful not to make a sound. And then it was clutched to his chest and he was creeping onward again, unnoticed by the sleeping Gem.

The bathroom door clicked shut quietly behind Steven and he slumped against it with a sigh. That had been far more stressful than any mission so far. As his heart rate began to slow back to normal he held the mirror up in front of him, turning it over to examine the gem set into the back. His fingers ran slowly over the ridges that held it in place. “It was you, wasn’t it?” he whispered. “You reached into my dreams and asked me for help. I know the Gems don’t want to let you out, but… that doesn’t feel right to me, no matter who you are. You shouldn’t have to be trapped in here.”

His fingers closed around the gem. “I’m going to help you,” he promised in a whisper. And then he began to pull.

Shards of glass fell from the broken mirror, clinking against the floor as they were shaken loose by his efforts. He felt the thin metal begin to bend and warp under the force he was applying as he strained to pull the gem free. And then suddenly the seal gave way and his hand hit the bathroom door with a thump, the gem clutched victoriously in his fist.

Light erupted from between his clenched fingers, flooding the room with a glow so blindingly strong that he was forced to cover his eyes. He released the gem and backed away as it hovered in front of the door under its own power. And then the light condensed and a form was unfolding itself in midair; slender, not particularly tall, with a long skirt that billowed around its legs. The figure shone brightly for a moment before fading into vibrant shades of blue as the stranger sank down onto the floor.

In the sudden darkness Steven could barely see a thing. But he certainly heard the pounding on the other side of the door. He leaped back and the new Gem scooted quickly away from it as well, staring in distress as Amethyst’s voice spoke up from the other side. “Hey, Steven? You in there? What was that light?”

The strange Gem turned her head toward him, her expression silently pleading. He drew a breath and blurted out the first thing to come to mind. “Nothing important! My gem started glowing again.”

“Oh, is that all? Try not to smash the place up with your shield again. Night, dude.”

Her footsteps retreated and a moment later Steven heard the front door open and close. Only then did he finally set down the destroyed mirror on the edge of the bathroom sink and turn his attention to the unfamiliar Gem still kneeling on the floor. He offered a hand to help her up and she stared at it for a moment before taking it.

“My name’s Steven,” he whispered as he pulled her to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“I’m… I’m fine.” Her hand slipped out of his as she surveyed the room cautiously. After a moment she blinked and looked down at him again. “I’m Lapis Lazuli. Thank you for setting me free.”

“It _was_ you, wasn’t it? Calling out to me?”

She simply nodded. “What is this place? And… you’re a Gem?”

“Yes, I am! See?” He lifted the shirt of his pyjamas to display the pink diamond set into his navel.

Lapis’ response was instantaneous. She scrambled backward, her back slamming against the bathroom door, eyes wild with shock and horror. “Wh-what? No! You can’t have…! You can’t be…! Th-this is some sort of…!”

“Wait, I can explain-!”

It was too late - Lapis had found the doorknob. In an instant she had thrown the door open and was running from the room. By the time Steven followed she had spotted the front door and bolted toward it. But just before she reached it, four figures stepped into her path.

As the door burst open Lapis slid to a stop. Her fearful eyes darted from Garnet, standing in the doorway with a face like thunder, to Bismuth and Pearl looking shocked on either side, and then to Amethyst blinking in confusion behind Pearl. “You’re the rebels,” Lapis gasped as she backed away. Steven grabbed for her hand again and immediately she jerked away, retreating from him with an equal amount of fear.

“This… this is the rebel base!” she exclaimed as her eyes found the entrance to the Temple. “This is where you’ve been hiding all this time! I have to report this to Homeworld!”

“Wait! Lapis, please listen!” Steven ran forward again as Lapis bolted for the window. Garnet reached out to intercept her and Amethyst produced her whip, but all three were too late. A pair of wings made entirely of water burst from either side of the gem upon Lapis’ back as she threw herself through the screen. Her bare feet hit the ground briefly on the other side and then she was airborne, Amethyst’s whip falling just short of her ankles as she soared up into the sky. Within moments she had vanished among the clouds.

The four Gems watched her go before turning on Steven. He shuffled his feet guiltily. “Uh, I can explain…”

“You set a Homeworld Gem free!” Pearl exclaimed as she gestured up into the sky behind her.

“You tricked me!” Amethyst added, sounding hurt and offended.

Bismuth groaned and ran a hand through her hair as she crossed to sit down on the couch. “Didn’t I warn you about the danger? Why didn’t you listen to me, Steven?”

“I’m sorry!” Steven cried out. The guilt and shame of disappointing his family caused tears to well up in his eyes as he hugged himself with both arms. “She was begging for help! I heard her! I couldn’t just ignore her…”

He sniffled and stared at Garnet’s feet, which were now standing right in front of him. It took a moment before he could summon the courage to look up into her face. “I thought she’d want to join us if I helped her…”

Garnet slowly crouched down before him. “Steven, we’re very disappointed in you for disobeying us. But I can understand why you did it. We should have included you in the discussion so you could fully understand the dangers. That’s on us.”

“But Garnet-“ Pearl began.

Garnet raised a hand to stop her. “We deliberately hid the truth from Steven. We’ve never spoken to him about Homeworld. He can’t understand what it’s like. We kept him in the dark and that Gem appealed to him for help. He’s so much like Pink. Of course he would choose to help somebody in need when we refused to even give him a clear reason why he shouldn’t.”

Pearl opened her mouth to respond, only to instead let out a sigh. Of course Garnet was right. “… What are we going to do about her?”

Garnet straightened up and turned to stare outside. “That Gem may have accelerated the danger, but our plans are the same. If Homeworld sends Gems, we force them to leave. The Earth is our home. It doesn’t matter who or what we need to fight to protect it.”

“Wait,” Amethyst piped up, “there were plans for this? But there haven’t been Homeworld Gems on Earth in thousands of years. I thought they were leaving this place alone because it belonged to Pink. Why would we have any plans?”

A brief silence fell before Pearl let out a reluctant sigh. “… Homeworld Gems might have already had plans to come to Earth again even before today. I… I contacted the Diamonds some time ago and told them that Pink is… no longer with us. None of them took it well.”

“You did what?!” Amethyst shrieked. “Why?!”

Pearl flinched, deliberately avoiding everyone’s gaze as she stared at her own feet. “I don’t know why I did it. I… don’t remember.”

“Why it was done isn’t important,” Garnet stated firmly. “The most important thing is that we have a solid plan of action. And that’s what we’re going to discuss now. Steven, back to bed.”

Although disappointed that he was once again being excluded, Steven quickly decided against speaking up when he realized Garnet had not given him a punishment. Instead he proceeded to the closet beneath the stairs in silence as the Gems made their way inside the Temple. He heard the door shut as he hauled out a spare sheet and carried it over to the hole in the screen, where he began to pin it up to block out the wind.

For a moment Steven found himself gazing out into the night sky. Lapis was long gone, leaving not even a single sign of her presence other than the broken mirror in his bathroom. But he couldn’t help but think about her alone in space and wonder what he could have done to convince her to stay.

“Safe travels,” he whispered to the empty sky.

**Author's Note:**

> There are no corrupted Gems at all in this timeline due to differences in how the Gem War played out. As a result, their place is instead taken by shards that have inhabited whatever they can find in place of a body.


End file.
